Too Late
by The Five Heads of the Hydra
Summary: What happens if Natsu wasn't able to reach the doll in time? What if Fairy Tail had lost a member that day? Death fic for what could of happened on Tenrou if Natsu could not reach Mr. Cursey. AU obviously. One-shot. M just to be safe.


**While you impatient people impatiently wait for my permanent story to come out, I whipped up a little one- shot. I may do this once a month until all my stories are done.**

**I'm going off memory here so I'm sorry if this isn't completely word for word.**

Not Enough

The One and Only Chapter

Natsu, currently buried under a pile of large rocks, was struggling to get out, wiggling and twisting and threatening the rocks.

Lucy stared at his predicament, quickly pulling out Virgo's key. She opened her mouth to hurriedly recite the incantation, but froze with a horrified look on her face. "I'm out of magic," she whispered hoarsely, voice cracking. A sudden presence behind her suddenly kicked her down, knocking the breath out of the Celestial Mage, and earning a cry from all three Fairy Tail mages.

Happy dove down, declaring how he was going to save them. At least until he was knocked into a tree by Kain Hikaru's meaty fist. "Happy!" Lucy and Natsu cried, worried for the blue neko.

"I'm sorry Natsu, Lucy!" He cried crocodile tears as he slowly slid down the trunk of the tree.

Happy was down for the count.

Natsu hurriedly turned his attention back to the blonde as Kain stomped down on her back, earning another pained cry from her. "Lucy, go!" The pinkette cried, struggling even harder."I'll handle him somehow. Just go!"

"No," she whispered as Kain grabbed her head and lifted her up. The blonde looked up at Natsu with one of her bright smiles._ How can she smile so bright at a time like this?_ Natsu wondered vaguely as he stared horrified at the stubborn girl. "Why would I run away by myself?" She smiles brighter, if possible."It's always more fun when we're together!" Natsu felt tears rush to his eyes as he saw her get raised higher by the Grimoire Heart member. And he couldn't do a damn thing!

"You have no idea how cruel I can be. Nobody will see your pretty face ever again!" Kain slowly squeezes on Lucy's head, his vice like grip getting stronger, eliciting a pained gasp from Lucy. She squirms under his grip, trying to get out no matter how futile.

Natsu looks down, his attention captured by the tiny burlap doll by him. He chuckles evilly as he reaches for it, thinking of ways to defeat Kain while embarrassing the hell out of the blonde 'weirdo' as he so calls her. His heart stopped in his chest as his fingers came an inch short, so close to that doll that could be the life or the death of his best friend. This terror was worse than when Igneel left, worse than when Lisanna 'died', worse than being trapped in Genesis Zero, worse than hearing Lucy was going to be killed in Edolas. He would see this. But… he didn't want to. So he stretched himself further, further than he had ever reached before. His fingertip, touching the arm of it. Time slowed down as he pushed his body further, further, he almost had it, almost.

With one last push and a pained grunt, he grabbed the doll and pulled it back to him. He reached for the dolls leg, ready to deliver a doll Lucy Kick, but…

No, no, no, no, no_, no, no, no, no, no, no, NO!_

He watched mortified, frozen, delirious, as Kain stated how tired he was of going slowly, and then… so much _blood. _She hit the ground with a wet thud. Her horrified eyes and her screaming out for him would be branded in his mind for eternity.

_Your fault._

Blood on Kain's hand, his face, his body. It was all over Natsu, too much blood, his mind shut down briefly, only to start up again. Furious was the only word in his head, bouncing around, echoing. Scales appeared on his face, arms, legs, and he roared. The rocks blew off from the force of the inferno, some melting, and some just crumbling into ashes. Natsu roared once again, stepping towards the dark mage. His obsidian eyes had a murderous intent in them.

Kain, getting the message, ran off before Natsu could kill him, shouting 'woo-wee!'

"Natsu," a small voice called out to him.

"N- Na- Natsu…" Happy called out once again, bawling his eyes out.

He turned around, regretting it immediately.

The stench, oh Gods the stench. He quickly turned around to empty the content of his stomach, hot tears running down his face, bile was the only thing he could taste.

"Come on Lushe! I once saw-" he paused to sob. It was heartbreaking to see the cute little Happy break down like this."I saw a chicken running around without a head once, Lushe. You're a weirdo so I bet you could do it, too!" Natsu couldn't bring himself to tell the Exceed that she wasn't going to get up and walk. She wouldn't get mad at Happy, because she wouldn't be there for him to tease her. No more missions with her. No more weird spirits to watch her summon. No more… Lucy. And that was hardest to accept for Natsu. Lucy was the essence of Fairy Tail… she _had_ to be alive. She was the only one who remembered to make fire pancakes for him, and to buy extra hot sauce for when he came over. She always had a whole fridge dedicated to fish _exclusively _for Happy and Happy only. For him, life without Lucy would be lonely… pointless in a way. "Lushe, come on… this wouldn't k-kill you…" Happy starts back up again, now just recklessly babbling."I mean… we got that Titan Nose dude… and you helped us defeat a Vulcan! And… and we beat that creepy mustache guy and you got that weird maid key thing. And we… we destroyed the entire Eisenwald guild together and we beat those dark monsters on the way back and we tried to eat them and you defeated that Sherry girl and those other people and Juvia and Gajeel and Loke was a celestial spirit and we got those weird dudes in the tower thingy and Bickslow and that Naked Mummy guild in Acalypha and Oración Seis with that Angel girl and Wendy joined and you got that scorpion those blue twins and Aries and we won against that weird dragon girl's lizard things and the dragon she made with Natsu as the power source and those royal guards in Edolas and Hughes and Sugarboy and Byro and we came here cause Cana is your partner and you beat Freed and Bixlow and Capricorn and you got his key and then… and then…*sob* Come on Lushe! I'm sorry! I'm sorry I call you fat, because you're not! You're really nice and I was going to get you something for Mother's Day! I'm sorry I couldn't help! I'm sorry I couldn't have helped you! To be honest, I'd rather of had this happen to me than you… I want to take your place… I- I love you, Lushe!" The poor blue Exceed sank down to his bottom and cried, and cried, and cried.

"Happy…" Natsu started.

A loud boom interrupted them, and they watched as the smoke from the nearly destroyed airship wafted into the air. They had won yet… Natsu felt like they didn't win anything. Nothing at all.

And then he started thinking. Lucy was practically the heart and essence of Fairy Tail. She wouldn't- no- couldn't die. This was a dream, or maybe a prank. A cruel, cruel prank. "Only Ice Princess would…" he muttered.

And with that in mind, he carefully scooped up Lucy's body, arms under her back and knees. "Natsu, what are you doing with Lushe?"

"To the base camp! I bet Wendy could heal her!" Happy frowned, not because he had already accepted that Lucy wasn't coming back, but because he saw the hysteria, the need for Lucy to be alive, in Natsu's onyx eyes. But for Natsu, he would try.

"Of course Natsu!" He cheered with fake happiness."Wendy could heal her." Natsu nodded feverishly, needing it to be true.

Base Camp

"Role Call!" Mira shouted out." Levy!"

"Here!"

"Gajeel!"

"Hmph."

"Freed!"

"Present."

"Bixlow!"

"I'm here!"

"Evergreen!"

"Here!"

"Elfman!"

"Being here is man!"

"Uh, Juvia!"

"Juvia is present."

"Lisanna!"

"Here, Mira-nee!"

"Gray!"

"Here!"

"Erza!"

"I'm here."

"Gildarts!"

"Here!"

"Cana!"

"Mmhmm!"

"Pantherlily!"

"Present!"

"Carla!"

"Here."

"Wendy!"

"Um… I'm here!"

"Master!"

"Here!"

"Laxus!"

"I'm here."

"Natsu!"

Nothing.

"Happy!"

Still nothing.

"Uh… Lucy?"

Quiet.

"Where could they b-"

Mira was cut off at Lisanna's shout of, 'I see Happy!'

"Where?!" Mira shouted, dead serious.

Lisanna quickly pointed to her right, where everyone vaguely saw the shape of a depressed Happy flying towards them. Within a minute, Happy was standing in front of the crowd, 'what happened' seemed to be the main question. Happy was always happy. It was his trademark.

"Quiet!" Mira roared, her Satan Soul aura emanating from her, quieting everyone, including Laxus, who paled slightly."Continue, Happy."

"Well… uh, Natsu is coming and… how do I word this?" He whispered. The dragon slayers were confused by his last words, being the only ones to hear.

"He's holding on to a false hope, and when he comes back, he won't be the same Natsu we all know, ever again. He may not even want to fight anymore, or he may want to fight even more. I don't know. But p- prepare yourselves."

Happy looked up at the dragon slayers and motion them over to a corner of the camp, out of earshot.

Everyone was surprised, seeing Happy acting so… mature.

Gajeel, Wendy and Laxus glanced at each other, then at Happy, and walked over.

"You'll probably figure it out before anyone else so I might as well tell you the entire story, shortened though." Happy put a paw on his chin, thinking. A tear slipped down his face and he hastily wiped it away."When Natsu asks the question, say yes. Try and make him feel that something could have been done."

"What ques-"Wendy was interrupted by Happy.

"Hold on, I need to get the story out real quick… and you'll figure out the question soon. Try to hold your breath though…"he breathed in slowly."So we were fighting this one chick, when Lucy suddenly falls from the sky while this Grimoire Heart member gets kicked in the face by Natsu. The chick leaves, making us fight the fat dude. He used some kind of doll magic that when a hair is put in, you can control that person. He was controlling Lucy, until we beat him. But Natsu had been buried under a pile of rocks and couldn't get out. Lucy was going to call out Virgo, but she had no magic left. The dude we had though we beat came out of nowhere and kicked her down. I tried to help, but he hit me into a tree and it hurt so bad I couldn't move for a bit. So I watched. The dude, Kain, I think, started stomping on her back and so Natsu told her to run away and that he would handle it somehow. Kain picked her up by the head as she said no, and that it was more fun when they were together. Kain said something and started to do… something. His back was facing me. I saw Natsu laugh creepily and reach for the doll, cause it still had Lucy's hair in it. I think he was going to do a Lucy Kick with it. But his finger stopped an inch away from the doll and I think both our hearts stopped. He started reaching further and further, further than a body should go in my opinion. He finally reached it and pulled it closer to him, grabbing its leg to do a Lucy Kick I presume. Right as he was about to do it though, Lucy screamed his name and then… there was _so much blood._ I had finally gained enough strength to drag myself closer. Natsu went into Dragon Force and scared the dude off. I was horrified by what I saw and started babbling. I told Lucy that I had seen a chicken run around without a head once but…"

The dragon slayers gasped, mortified. They were all crying, getting worried glances thrown at them by the others in the camp.

"Bunny-girl…"

"Lucy-san…"

"Blondie…"

"He's going to ask me to heal her." It was a statement more than a question.

Happy nodded slightly, pursing his lips."He's freaking out, thinking that you can grow a head back. Delusional. I went along with it, to give him some hope."

"Why?" Gajeel asked."Then it would be more painful to hold onto that hope longer for it to be crushed suddenly."

Happy looked up, more serious than anyone had ever seen him.

"I just wanted to see Natsu happy one more time."

Timeskip: Five Minutes

The dragon slayers that were on alert suddenly smelt something akin to blood. A lot of it.

Wendy stood up solemnly, along with Laxus and Gajeel. "He's here."

Everyone stopped what they were doing and stared where the slayers were looking at, faintly seeing a mop of pink hair. _And red,_ some noted.

In about a minute, Natsu was close enough to see only up to his face, which was splattered in blood.

"What the…" Makarov began.

"Minna, please prepare yourself. And try to give him hope if you can. He's a bit… delusional, currently." All heads turned to Wendy, surprised at how grim she looked.

"Why?" Mira asked hesitantly.

"Lucy," Gajeel answered.

The heads turned to him, shocked at how he addressed her. And then it sank in.

"W-What ha-happened to L-Lucy?" Erza was trembling, eyes wide.

The four stayed silent.

"Wendy. Happy?" Carla prompted.

Said girl shook her head as Happy grimaced, not answering.

"Gajeel?" Pantherlily bit his lip.

Another shake of the head.

Mira bit out a frustrated sigh."Laxus!"

He stared down at her and slowly shook his head, sorrow laced in his eyes, hidden deep.

And then Natsu was a few meters from camp, staring pleadingly at Wendy. He had stopped walking, the foliage covering the middle of his body, but did nothing to hide the blood staining his head and legs.

The bluenette took a shaky breath, tears finding their way to her eyes as he trembling hand quickly pointed towards the closest clean cot. Gajeel and Laxus had their fist clenched at their sides as Natsu slowly made his way out of the woods.

Their eyes all fell on what he carried protectively in his arms and wailed, some already sobbing, some were just standing there, as if they couldn't believe something like this could happen.

"L-Lucy," Erza murmured, eyes wide, tears falling out of both eyes.

Mira was wailing on the ground, hands covering her eyes, as if she could stop hearing, stop… everything.

Lisanna was trying to comfort her sister, but it was a lost cause, considering Lisanna was sobbing too.

Elfman was staring at nothing, tears rolling down his face.

Juvia quietly whispered "Lucy," to herself as she comforted Gray.

Gray was on his knees, unashamedly bawling for his 'sister.'

Evergreen was hiding her face behind her fan, but her shoulders were shaking and you could hear her sobs.

Bixlow and his dolls were all drooped, a haunted look to the Seith mages eyes, having taken off his mask to cry freely.

Freed covered his face with his arm, shoulders bent slightly as he cried for the fallen Fairy Tail mage.

Levy was wailing as loud as Mira, the heel of her palms pressed into her eyes, as if trying to stop the tears from falling.

Makarov was bawling and sniffling, his black eyes wide and red around the edges, fists clenched at his side.

Cana had her bangs covering her eyes, but silent tears slipped down her face.

Gildarts had a vein popping out on his head as fat tears slipped down his face, silently swearing to himself he would destroy whoever did this.

Carla was frozen, wide eyed with unacknowledged tears slipped down her face.

Pantherlily was nearly the same, but with his eyes closed and hands covering his mouth to stop the loud sobs. _She always gave me kiwis, _he thought to himself.

Happy, Gajeel, and Laxus all bowed their heads, acknowledging the death of a comrade.

Natsu gently set her down on a cot as Wendy reluctantly began the futile healing. Minutes passed with no improvement… no heartbeat. The wailing and sobbing had quieted down to sniffling here and there, and Wendy had exhausted herself trying to make Natsu happy.

"Natsu", she quietly stated. He looked at her with hopeful eyes that showed a psychotic edge underneath it. If this drove him to near insanity without results of dead or alive… what exactly would this do to him?"I- Lucy Heartfilia has officially died on November 20th, X784 at 5:43 pm. I am sorry to inform you of this, although I proudly admit she died a brave warrior and mage of Fairy Tail."

Natsu completely deflated, the small edge of insanity filled his eyes his face."She-she can't be dead. She c-couldn't of-"

Mira stepped forward and hugged the pinkette tight. His eyes widened as he finally accepted the death. Bawling already, he shook his head back and forth, as if he was reluctant to admit it.

He raised his head off the snowettes shoulder and keened. A sound akin to a mourning dragon. The sound struck a chord in all the members of Fairy Tail and they started to sob again. Finally accepting what they knew they had to face.

Lucy Heartfilia was dead, and she wasn't coming back.

**Done! Sorry if it ended too suddenly, but it took me a while to write so…**

**I'm sorry it's a bit morbid but hey… I like it. Although, 3,022 words was achieved, a new record for me. Anyway, expect me to update my first story in about… July of next year, on my birthday. Sorry I had to push back the time by six months.**

**Bye minna!**


End file.
